Lagos State Emerges Best Security, Safety Conscious State In Africa

The Lagos State Government has bagged an award as the best security and most safety conscious State in Africa.

At the award ceremony held in Johannesburg, South Africa, and put together by the Security Watch Africa (SWA), the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of Lagos State Police Command emerged as the best anti-crime police squad in West Africa, while the RRS Commander, ACP Olatunji Disu took home the award of the most outstanding police operational officer in West Africa.

The awards were presented to officials of the State Government at the 2016 lecture series of SWA organized in partnership with Security Institute for Governance and Leadership in Africa (SIGLA) and the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.

The lecture, which had the theme: “Tackling Security Challenges In Africa’s Land and Maritime Domains,” was well attended by security experts and officials from across Africa.

Lagos State and its officials, according to organizers of the awards, were honoured in recognition of the outstanding efforts and achievements in securing residents, especially the massive improvement on security architecture of the State.

While receiving the award for the State on behalf of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tunji Bello, thanked the organizers for recognizing Lagos State, saying that it was gratifying to note that the efforts of government on security were appreciated.

He said ever since emerging as Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Ambode has made safety and security one of the focal objectives of his administration as he believes that there cannot be any development in the absence of security.

 

“I want to assure this gathering that Governor Ambode is very much committed to the security of lives and property of the people of the State and he is not tired of daily improving on the security situation in the State. The Governor believes that businesses cannot thrive in an environment devoid of safety and security, hence the massive efforts and initiatives geared toward security,” Bello said.

On his part, RRS Commander, who took time to lecture the gathering on the duties of the RRS, said being a unit of the Lagos State Police Command, the Squad is responsible for robberies and emergencies like collapsed building and other related situations.

He said the RRS is usually the first responder in emergency situation, adding that the Unit was also blessed with highly dedicated officials who carry out 24-hour job on a daily basis.

Speaking on the awards to RRS and to him, Disu said: “We like to appreciate the awards given to us and this will surely go a long way in motivating our men back home to know that everything they do is appreciated because the belief of an average police man in Nigeria is that police job is a thankless job and nobody appreciates what they do, but the awards will also spur us to better serve the people,” the RRS Commander said.

Man Uses Nude Picture Of Female Victims To Blackmail

A 35 year-old man, Michael Atanda, who  has been threatening to expose nude pictures of four ladies on the social media if they fail to pay  money into his account has been arrested by the operatives of the Rapid Response Squad of the Lagos State Police Command.

Atanda, a computer science National Diploma holder of a popular computer school based in Ikeja, was arrested on Thursday by the Decoy Team of the Rapid Response Squad after about five days of baiting and monitoring.

Atanda, an ex-convict and a father of three, had collected N121,000:00 from his four victims with the threat, but wanted the ladies to pay more or face the consequences of leaking their nude pictures on social media.

Disguising as Segun Bayo on Facebook and a graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, Atanda said he went about adding several ladies on Facebook. And, that after two weeks, he would start chatting with them. 

“The profile picture on my Facebook account is that of a guy based in London, and so as part of my introductions to ladies, I tell them that, I am a Construction Engineer as well as that my parents and I am living Europe…. After sometime, I would lure them into sexual conversations during which, I persuaded them to send their nude pictures to me. They would send and I would send mine to them too," the suspect said.

"Before that I would pretended that I was seeking a serious relationship with them, and that very soon, I would be coming to Abuja on a business trip, during which I would see them…. I would again feign my seriousness by calling them with the aid of computer software that transforms my Nigerian line into an international line. Meanwhile, I would warn them that I was calling through a public phone booth,” he stated.

He noted, "As soon as they have sent their nude pictures, I would come up with all manners of stories. I would begin to extort and blackmail them. Through this means, I have collected over N121, 000:00 from my latest victims.”

He further confessed that “I was jailed last years in a similarly circumstance after fraudulently collecting N700, 000:00 from a lady I met through a dating site. I was eventually bailed but the case is still pending in court…. I have collected only 10,000:00 from Funmilola, Motunrayo N6,000:00, Janet, N5,000:00 and Lizzy N100,000:00.”

Out of the 210 friends on his Facebook, over 195 are young ladies. Apart from Lizzy, who reported the incident but declined to press charges, three other suspects, who were discovered during investigations, acknowledged on phone calls that they have been paying the suspect so that he doesn’t leak their nude photographs online.

Even though investigators have reached out to more victims after checking the suspect’s Facebook conversations with a number of ladies. All of them have refused to come forward, after confirming they were paying the suspect through his bank statement.

Atanda also opened a bank account with the same name, Segun Bayo, in one of the old generation banks.

Confirming the development, the Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent Dolapo Badmos, said that the Police were carrying out a thorough investigation on the case to aid prosecution. The suspect has been transferred to SCID for further investigations.

'We Survive By Stealing Phones And Robbing People In Oshodi'

One of the two suspects arrested by the operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of Lagos State Police Command has disclosed that he and other teenagers in Oshodi survive by stealing and dispossessing passers-by of their phones and other valuables.

The suspect, Yusuph Ahmed, 19, from Offa, Kwara State, said this to interrogators at the RRS headquarters in Alausa, Ikeja, on Friday afternoon.

Ahmed, who was arrested in Oshodi on Friday after dispossessing a passenger of his phone, stated that he along with other teenagers sleep in Oshodi under bridge and that it is from there they eke out a living by stealing phones and robbing passers-by of their valuables.

The arrested suspect, who had been sleeping under Oshodi Bridge since he was 13, stressed that even though he does not follow those who rob amongst them out all the time, he knows all of them.

He narrated that “I sleep in Oshodi Under Bridge. We are over 60 teenagers sleeping there. The adults sleep in Ori – Pako. I was 13 years old when I started sleeping there. I keep my clothes there…. I sleep around 8:00 p.m. or 9:00 p.m. There are some of us who do not sleep at all. They are the ones that alert us whenever the police is around. There are equally some who do not sleep because they go from one place to the other in Oshodi to rob. They rob late at night and very early in the morning."

He continued: "After the death of my mother, my father abandoned us. He stopped taking care of us leaving us to fend for ourselves. Even the school, he stopped paying the monthly N600. I had to resort to packing granite to pay the monthly N600 for school fee."

"At a point, I couldn’t cope with the fee. I was just 12. I dropped out and I decided to run to Lagos. Since then, Oshodi Under Bridge has been my home. Any phone I stole, I sell to Mohammed or Kudus. They are beggars in Oshodi. They buy most of the stolen phones from us,” the teenager added.

However, the stolen phone, a Tecno Y6, was recovered from Ahmed’s brother.

The second suspect, Yusuph Agbaje, 25, from Oyo State, was arrested in Agege for stealing a Blackberry curve from a commuter.

Responding to the development, the State Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent of Police, Dolapo Badmos, said that the Police would leave no stone unturned in getting rid of criminal elements within the state, urging parents to monitor the activities of their wards.

The suspects have been transferred to the Lagos State Task force on Environment for prosecution.

Recognition of Police Efforts

In recognition of his tremendous effort in reducing crime rates in Lagos State, in particular, Ajegunle axis, the Chairman of Ajeromi Ifelodun Community Development Committee, Olatunde Balogun, presenting award's plaque to the RRS Commander, as The Most Friendly Community Man of The Year in Ajegunle.

Executives Members of Ajeromi Ifelodun community development committee in a group photograph with the Commander of RRS during presentation of award's plaque to the commander in his office on Friday, November 5th, 2016

L:R: Taiwo Adekoya, Auditor; Mrs Olaide Elegunde, Community Woman leader,; RRS Commander, ACP OLATUNJI DISU; Olatunde Balogun, Community Chairman and Wemimo Awolowo, PRO, during presentation of award to the Commander in his office.

RRS Nabs Six Kid-Robbers In Oshodi

In what appeared to be a clampdown on criminals operating in Oshodi, prelude to the festive seasons, the operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested six teenage mobile phone thieves in Oshodi.

The suspects were all apprehended the same day in Oshodi while brazenly dispossessing commuters of their belongings.

The suspects; Ganiyu Rahman Sadiq Adebayo (15); Timilehin Oluwaseun (14); Ogundare Moyinoluwa (18); Toheeb Tijani (19) and Adeleke Sodiq (17) were arrested on Friday morning in Oshodi Oke.

According to one of the suspects, Ganiyu Rahman, “we are over 50 boys. We are always in Oshodi-Oke, from morning till late night.... Some of us genuinely help people to carry their loads while a lot of us are there to snatch handbags, phones and other valuables from people....

“At times, we pretend to be helping them but our focus is their valuables. Most times, we work in groups. While the other is helping out, another person is stealing the victim’s valuables either from bag or pocket.... There are some other guys who forcibly dispossess passers-by of their belongings. These gangs operate early in the morning and late at night when their victims are helpless,” he noted.

Getting personally, Rahman disclosed that he is a product of a broken home which has seen his parents remarrying: “I have been sleeping in Oshodi Under Bridge since 2013.... I work as conductor and whenever am not, I am with my peer to rob and snatch valuables in Oshodi...

“We were three when we stole the Microsoft phone from a lady’s bag. We pretended to be helping the lady to get a bus, meanwhile, our intent was her phones. I have been committed to 13 month rehabilitation by the Lagos State Taskforce but my home is in Oshodi Under Bridge,” he stated.

His victim, Sarah Obende, an undergraduate of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), disclosed that “I thought I had lost the phone.... I discovered it was missing immediately I boarded a bus in Oshodi. I received a call in the evening that I should come to Alausa to collect my phone.”

Another suspect, Sadiq Adebayo, who was allegedly in company of two other boys while stealing an iPhone and a phantom Techno phone from a car, disclosed, “Osas and Janbele stole the two phones in my presence.... We have sold the two phones along with seven other phones to Tuwo in Idi Oro, Mushin. They gave me N7,000 from the proceeds."

Four of the remaining suspects, namely: Timilehin Oluwaseun, Ogundare Moyinoluwa, Toheeb Tijani and Adeleke Sodiq were all separately apprehended while stealing phones and purse from commuters in similar circumstances.

The onslaught on criminals has been stretched to various black spots in the state. Responding to the development, the Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent Dolapo Badmos, said Police would leave no stone unturned in getting rid of criminal elements within the State, urging parents to monitor the activities of their wards and children. The suspects have been transferred to Lagos State Taskforce.

Tricycle Rider Abducts Girl, 15, in Lagos.... He Deflowered Me By Force, Victim Laments

The operatives of Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of Lagos State Police Command have apprehended a tricycle operator, popularly called, "Keke Marwa", for allegedly abducting a 15-year old girl and turning her to a sex slave.

The suspect, Dada Azeez, 28, had abducted Ibukun (not real name) on October 5 while on errand for her aunt in Agege area before the RRS operatives rescued her on October 21, 2016, from his den in the same Agege area of the state.

The alleged abduction of the girl was disclosed by her sister, Mrs Gbemisola, who disclosed that the girl was abducted with a sum of N58,000:00 meant for  her thrift contribution.

The suspect, after weeks of lodging in several locations to evade arrest, was eventually nabbed by the operatives at his residence at 7, Oseni Street, Danjuma Cinema area, Agege, with the girl in his one room apartment.

Confessing to the crime, the suspect disclosed that he wooed the girl when she was 14 years old at her sister' shop in Agege.

"We started having secret affair about a year ago. But her sister frowned at our relationship when she got to knows.... Unknown to her, we were still seeing each other. In order to be having regular conversation with her, I bought a mobile phone for her and instructed her to hide it from her sister. So, whenever she intended coming to meet me, she would call and I will describe our meeting point for her," he claimed.

He added "then I thought if she could elope with me that would be better for us. I started working on her psyche and deceiving her with some material things.... I was able to perpetrate the crime when her sister sent her on errand on one Sunday afternoon. However, I didn't know she was with such amount of money. I just wanted to take her far away from her guardian for not supporting our relationship."

Narrating her ordeal, Ibukun noted that the suspect forcefully deflowered her, adding that, he turned her to a sex slave. According to her,"he forced himself on me the very first day I visited him at his residence. Ever since, he has been having sex with me without wearing condom.... He slept with me anywhere and even at his friends' place where he hid me for weeks. I succumbed to him because I couldn’t go back home."

She said that the suspect collected the N58,000:00 her sister gave her. "He fed me thrice a day probably from that thrift contribution money," she added. The victim, who looked pale when she was rescued, said that, she eloped with him out of ignorance.

Also arrested along with him, was one of his friends, Wasiu Agunbiade, who aided the abduction by accommodating the suspect and the teenager in his one-room apartment in Agege. He said that he only accommodated them for a night, adding that he never knew he abducted the little girl.

"If I had known the girl was abducted, I would have advised him to return her to her parents. I never believed he could commit such crime. He begged me to accommodate them for one night with her in my room," he stressed. “He left my place the following day to somewhere else. I regretted allowing them to pass the night in my place," he added.

In her reaction, the sister of the abducted girl, who was so elated upon seeing her niece, said that the family would take her to the hospital for medical check-up.

While confirming the incident, the State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Superintendent of Police, SP. Dolapo Badmus, warned parents and guardians against exposing their wards and children to social vices around their environment.

The suspect, friend and the abducted girl have been transferred to the Divisional Police Station in Agege where the case was initially reported before RRS operatives took it up and rescued the girl.

RRS Busts Suspected Thieves Of Ambode’s Light-Up Cable

The operatives of Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of Lagos State Police Command, on Monday, busted a 6-man syndicate which allegedly specialized in vandalising and stealing of Light-Up cable wire, street lamps and streetlight poles installed by the Ambode-led administration to illuminate the state.

The suspects, Tunde Alaba, 29, Saheed Ismail, 27, Deji Afolorunso, 26, Sunday Obasanmi, 27, Jelili Abodunrin, 32, and Taofeek Oyedele, 28, were all apprehended at about 2:30 am, under the bridge at CMS after destroying the streetlights powering CMS under the bridge and its environs.

RRS operatives who were patrolling the area, sighted them in the act of pulling down the street lamps, cables and poles, Government installed to lighten up the area before mobilising more officers for their eventual arrest and movement to RRS Headquarters, Alausa.

The suspects, who they all owned up to the crime at the RRS Headquarters, during an interrogation, noted that they have been living under the bridge for about 4 years.

Governor Ambode has urged all Police officers to always check out Light-Up Lagos Project because of pending cases of vandalisation and theft of armoured cable powering the street lights across the state.

One of the suspects, Jelili Oyedele, who hailed from Awe in Oyo State, said that the hardship situation in the country forced him into the criminal act.

He said, “I came to Lagos about Seven years ago. When I arrived, I was a bus conductor which I did for about 2 years. I joined the other accomplices under the bridge when I had no other place to live after my landlord had evicted me out for non-payment of house rent. Before now, I was working as labourers with the road construction company around Marina. But after our project ended, I chose to steal the cable to earn a living.”

Tunde Alaba, who arrived the City of Excellence from Ede in Osun State, early 2016, revealed that he left Lagos Island where he was squatting with a friend to avoid untimely death due to incessant clashes in the area.

“I ran away for my life for fear of death. Lagos Island is not safe for me any longer because of rampant killings and clashes between rival groups in the area. I moved to the under bridge for shelter. Although, I have not been doing anything tangible since I arrived the state, but I did have my daily meals through the sales of cables and iron steels,” he added.

Another suspect, Deji Afolorunsho, said that he was once a market sweeper in Idumota. “I swept the whole market every night and they paid me N2, 500 daily. But I lack contentment which led me to this crime”, he noted.

The lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent of Police, SP Dolapo Badmus, said that the Police will not condone any criminal activity in the state. The suspects have been transferred the Lagos State Environmental Task Force for prosecution.